Saying Goodbye
by Pheebs20
Summary: Rory and a very important goodbye. Set in Bon Voyage.


My second try at a GG fanfic.  
This one is set in the final episode of the series, Bon Voyage.

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She couldn't believe that the whole town was there to say goodbye to her. She always knew they cared about her a lot, because they had all seen her grown up in front of their eyes, but this was more than she could've ever hoped for.

One of the things Rory had always hated were goodbyes, but seeing everything they had done to the square to make it look better, the effort they had all put into this, made her forget for a while that this was a goodbye and just be there and apreciate everyone's company. This surely had taken them all night to put together! She never thought they were going to miss her this much.

She was lost in her thoughts when Ms. Patty got to where she was "Enjoing your party, sweetie?"

"Oh, yes. You have no idea how happy I am because of it." Rory answered.

"Well, that's usually the point of parties." She laughed a bit at her own joke.

"I still can't believe you did all this. You had to work all night, didn't you?"

Ms. Patty was a little unsure before she answered "Well, Luke did."

Rory was a bit confused at this "What? What do you mean 'Luke did'? Wait, he did all this?" This party had seemed so great, but now it took on a whole new meaning.

"We had all planned to do this together" said Ms. Patty "but then Babbette's ankles predicted the rain so we thought it was better to cancel everything. But Luke didn't let this stop him, so he stayed up all night sewing together everything he could to prevent some water from ruining you party."

Rory couldn't believe it. This was too much.  
She stood there for a moment trying to take in all this information. Luke. Luke had done this so she could have her Bon Voyage party.

He had always been there for her, taking care and protecting her. She remembered a time when he got into a fight with Dean in the middle of the street so that he couldn't go into the diner where she was. Luke never liked Dean and she could now see that he had been right, she should've listened when he said he wasn't good enough for her.

Now Rory could see that she had been taking Luke for granted, that he'd always be there for her. Everyday she could have his coffee and his amazing food. And not only that, but him as a person as well. Luke had been one of the few constant presenses in her life. She loved him so much, but she had never stopped to think about any of this. In many aspects he was a billion times more her father than Chris. He had always been there for the most important moments in her life, included this one, which he himself had accomplished.

And in that moment Rory realized that just like she had thanked her mother for everything she was, there was someone else to be thankful for that too.

She started to walk around the square, every now and then being stopped by people who wanted to congratulate her on her new job. She would just give them a little thank you, but without taking her eyes off the crowd, trying to spot that blue baseball cap.

Rory had already checked everywhere and she couldn't find him. Where was he? He couldn't have left yet, right?  
And then she saw him. He was on his way to the diner. She fought her way through the people that were still tring to congratulate her and as soon as she was free she began to run towards Luke's.

When she reached the door, she had to take a minute to catch her breath. How is it that people do this for fun, is something she'd never get. She opened the door a bit and noticed that there wasn't anyone there. Luke was probably in the back getting the garbage. She opened the door all the way and let herself in, which produced the very familiar sound of the bells above it. A sound that God knows when she'd be able to hear again.

Luke came in from the kitchen to see who had come in. "Rory! What are you doing here? You should be at your party."

"Um, yeah. But I'm here cause I need to talk to you." She took one of the chairs that was already on the table and turned it around to sit on it. Luke did the same and sat down in front of her.

"Is everything ok? Is there something wrong?" He suddeanly became very serious, clearly worried because of the look on her face.

"No, Luke. Don't worry, everything's fine." She tried to give him a smile to prove that, but her brain was still trying to think of what she was going to say to him and so, said smile didn't quite work out.

"You don't look fine, Rory."

This man could see right through her. "You know, Luke, how I was giving that little speech out there and thanked my mom and I got a little emotional."

"Of course." Nodded Luke "All the things you said where beautiful and is normal you got like that."

"Yeah. But looking back I realize I didn't thank all the people I wanted to."

"Oh. But I'm sure your Grandparents know you love them."

Ok, this was going to be complicated "No. I didn't mean them. I already talked to them."

"Oh, good."

Why on earth was it so hard to tell someone you've known all your life that you love them? Rory was having a lot of trouble finding the right words. In part because she wanted to make sure it was clear how much he meant to her and also because she knew Luke was easily embarrased, and this wasn't suppoused to be an awkward conversation.

"Luke, you've known me for a long time, right?" She asked, still unsure of how to give form to this talk.

"Um, well yeah." He answered, clearly confused about the question. "I still remember your caterpillar's funeral." They both smiled at the mention of that. Rory felt a little embarrased now for having asked him to do something so stupid, and yet he did it. He went to that funeral for her. With that though, any doubt she still had about how to approach this went out the window.

Luke's voice woke her from her internal thoughts. "Are you sure you're ok, Rory?" He softly grabbed her hands which were on her lap. "You're acting weird and you're very quiet."

"Ok courage, don't leave me now." She thought as she opened her mouth to start the very overdue feelings rant, as she had decided to call it.

"When I accepted this job I inmediately knew that I'd have to leave a lot behind, my mom to begin with. But it wasn't until I started getting everything ready that it actually hit me just how much I was going to miss everything... and everyone." As she said that last part she looked deeply into his eyes. He realized where this was going and opened his mouth to say something, but then inmediately closed it when he saw Rory shaking her head "No, please. Let me finish first. There's a lot I want to say yet." He looked at her for a second and then nodded in agreement.

"I still remember the first time I came to the diner, holding my mom's hand and scared, because I didn't know many people here yet. Then, as soon as we had sat down you came to our table and said to mom 'A gallon of coffee for you, I presume?', because she had been here before. That made me laugh and you looked at me and winked. I knew, even though I was young, that you were good. Even later, when you were kicking Kirk out, I still couldn't stop laughing. You've always had a tough guy image for everyone, but for some reason that never scared or fooled me. I knew you weren't really like that. You were sweet and caring and loving. And as years went by all of those were proven to be more than true. You're amazing, Luke. You have always been there. I can't think of one important moment in my life when you weren't there. Which, of course, can't be said for my dad. This party tonigh wouldn't have happened if you hadn't stayed up all night. You have supported me all the way and you're always looking out for me. Dean would agree there, I'm sure"

All the time while Rory had been talking, Luke had been sitting there staring at her, amazed, as tears began to form in his eyes.

"What I'm trying to say, Luke." She went on, this time she grabbed his hands. "Is that I can't even begin to think how much I'll miss you. I love you so much and the thought of not being able to see you whenever I want breaks my heart." She couldn't hold it in any longer and started crying. "I can't believe I never said any of this to you before. I'm going to miss you so much."

Rory let go of Luke's hands to cover her face as she sobbed. She hadn't want this to happen. This wasn't suppoused to make him feel sad too.

She was still crying when she felt Luke's hands on her shoulders and then him pulling her to her feet. She did so and as soon as she was standing up he hugged her tightly and began to stroke her hair. She took her hands away from her face and returned the hug as tight as she could.

"Shhhh." Said Luke trying to calm her down as he kissed her head. "It's ok that you never said these things before, because I knew them anyway. And the thing is, I never said them to you either." She let out a little giggle against his chest, which made him smile. "We're a lot alike. We are not that good with expressing our feelings sometimes."

"But I was stupid!" Rory said, breaking the hug. "I shouldn't have waited until now to say this."

"No, you're not stupid." Luke said cleaning a tear from her face with his thumb. "Neither of us said this out loud, but our actions spoke louder than that. Just like you said, Dean would agree with that. Rory, I care about you more than I do about myself. You have been like a daughter to me in so many ways. Even now that I have April, you'll always be my oldest daughter. And I'll always love you no matter what. You're going away, but I'm always going to be here. I'm not going anywhere. Plus. someone has to give your mother coffee everyday."

She smiled and hugged him again, and with that she was crying, but this time Luke grabbed some napkins for her.

"How are things with my mom, by the way?" Rory asked as they were stting back down.

Now that she would be gone she was worried about how things were going to be between them. She didn't want either of them to end up broken again.

"Don't worry." He answered calmly with a smile on his face. "Slowly things are working out."

"Yeah. You guys always find a way to make things work." Rory looked at the clock on the wall and was impressed by how fast time had gone by. "Woah! It's getting late!"

"Oh, you're right." Luke said as he stood up and looked at the clock. "Maybe you should get going."

"I'll write as much as I can, ok? And you'll answer with long letters, no monosylables." Rory demanded smiling.

Luke laughed. "I'll write back. And I'll want to know everything about your job." They stepped closer and hugged very tight. "I'm going to miss you."

"I am very missable" Luke laughed again at this. "I love you, Luke."

"I love you too." He broke the hug, but kissed her on the top of her head before letting go.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I have to take the garbage out. This town can sure make a mess." Rory was the one to laugh this time. "But what do you say if we have a last minute doughnut when I come back?"

"That sounds great." Rory answered, glowing with happiness.

Luke went to the back and came back with a huge garbage bag in his hand. He then went out through the front door.  
Rory went to the window and looked at him walking down the street. Then she noticed someone was walking towards him. "Mom?" And sure enough, it was Lorelai.

"Oh, I hope this isn't bad." She said to herself as they talked, but then she saw something that showed to her there was nothing to worry about. She had her mouth wide open in surprise, but then she just smiled. "Yeah, they'll be fine."

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Please review and tell me what you thought :)


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